Indianapolis Motor Speedway

When you hang around race tracks as much as I do (read: a lot), it becomes almost impossible to envision drivers dressed anything but a fire suit. You assume they wear one all the time—when they mow the lawn, when they visit the dentist, when they go out for ice cream. Saturday’s Rev event at […]

There’s nothing like winning the Indy 500 from the milk to the glory and bragging rights. Alexander Rossi found that out first hand last year winning the 100th running of the 500 as a rookie. He received his ring for his centennial victory May 3, when Alonso did his Rookie Orientation Program testing. Rossi was […]

Unless you’re a member of the Hulman-George family, an Indy 500 winner, or—now—the holder of a new, top-level $1,000 membership at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, you’re never getting into “the basement.” We did. Here’s what we found.

“In my mind, I never actually retired,” Aldo says. “I just stopped doing it. I guess I couldn’t admit to myself that it was over.”

Being “embedded” is like jumping from your recliner into the Yankees dugout.

An estimated 350,000 people attended to see Lady Gaga take a two-seater ride with 500 legend Mario Andretti, and to watch Alexander Rossi cross the finish line on fumes then get a tow to Victory Lane.

“I found that as soon as you sit inside and dwell on the fact that you’re ill and could die, that’s when it could get to you. But I just put that behind me.”

You’re fighting for fractions of a second all the time out there. That isn’t even a blink of an eye, but at the speeds you race at, that turns into footage. Half a car length, a car length—whatever it was. In my eyes, it was a mile.

In one image, a sampling of the 80,000-plus spectators take in the action from the fourth turn, some in the north grandstands and others from their own vehicles. Some fans appear somewhat more debauched—particularly the gentleman to the right of the rutted roadway who appears to be unconscious.

The Arts Council commissioned 33 artists to turn the usual signs into works of art. The artists were instructed not to focus on incorporating race imagery or colors, but on delivering the welcome message in their own style.

The IMS has aged gracefully, aided by a few facelifts along the way. Take a look at some of the biggest upgrades over the years.

Ride-along mechanics were a fixture into the late 1930s, and “Back Home Again” blared over the speakers for the first time in 1946. Point being, the Indy 500 and its traditions have had some tune-ups over the years.

Ladies and gentleman, start your arguments.